Found in translation: Bringing a Japanese brand to life in the US

Design Management Review, Spring 2004 by Garvey, Gloria, Gramann, Brook

When InSpecs arrived in Hawaii, managers thought the $39.99 price tag for a complete pair of glasses would draw huge crowds. But business failed to meet expectations. A market analysis and comprehensive design strategy led to significant improvements. Focusing on sales to younger adults, glasses became "fashion eyewear," and a homegrown identity was replaced with an integrated brand that included a new logo, environments, and packaging.

Everyone is familiar with stories about American products that are launched with names or visual identities that don't work in foreign countries: Pepsi's unique ability to "bring your ancestors back from the dead" in Japan, Gerber's failure to understand that consumers in Africa who are unable to read English count on photos to understand what's inside a container, and KFC's "eat your fingers off" (finger-lickin' good) chicken in Hong Kong. These and other stories are chronicled in Matt Haig's new book, Brand Failures.

This is the story of a great product with a name, a visual identity, and even a proposition that didn't translate when a talented Japanese entrepreneur brought it to Hawaii, and how sound brand strategy and great design are giving it the chance it deserves in the United States. It is also a story about how a brand can be built and brought to life with a good product and a client who's willing to learn.

Eyes on the prize

Megane Busters is a successful Japanese chain of 28 eyeglass stores. Megane Busters literally means "glasses busters," and it is intended to convey the same concept that Price Busters does in the United States. The chain, owned by a successful dramatic and commercial actor, doesn't sell brand-name frames. Instead, it will make you a pair of glasses while you wait-lens, frame, and case complete-for an amazingly low price. The face of this clever, slightly eccentric actor, Kazuma Suzuki, is very recognizable in Japan, and it is used in caricature form as an icon in the store logo (figure 1). This venture was so successful that it spawned competitors and inspired the actor to open a similar store in his favorite place in the world-Hawaii.

In early 2002, Suzuki purchased a well-known chain of appliance-parts stores in Hawaii, retaining many of the former managers. He planned to use that corporate base as a springboard for the Megane Busters concept. The appliance-parts folks had marketed themselves with reasonable success for decades and felt they had the necessary expertise to set up and market this new concept in Hawaii.

With thoughts of splintered glass in their retinas, the actor's new colleagues were smart enough to warn him off the translated version of the Megane Busters name. However, they didn't see anything wrong in using the cartoon version of his completely-unknown-in-Hawaii face on the new store logo. Familiarity worked in Japan, while lack of familiarity worked against the concept in Hawaii.

InSpecs, the new name of the company, was the result of an employee contest for which the winner was awarded $500, in an adjusted-for-inflation nod to the tradition of Phil Knight. Suzuki's team found a small space (about 600 square feet) in a Honolulu mall that was known for having local, not national, stores and painted it blue and orange. While the colors were vibrant, they failed to give the store the professionalism of an optical shop and the sophistication of a retail store.

Despite all that, the InSpecs concept was fabulous: a simple and straightforward way to buy eyeglasses and get great value. At InSpecs, a single-vision pair of eyeglasses, complete with prescription lenses, choice of frame, and hard case, cost just $39.99. Consumers could buy three or four pairs of eyeglasses from InSpecs for the cost of one pair at traditional retail. As in the original Megane Busters stores, InSpecs eyeglasses were made "while you wait." Complying with federal and state laws, an optician was on the premises and made the glasses, but they were sold and fitted by the attractive young sales staff.

So why wasn't InSpecs an overnight success?

It wasn't as if they didn't advertise. In its first six months, InSpecs was on television and in the newspaper. But the ads-created by the staff at the local newspapers-missed the point rather spectacularly (figure 2). One was headlined, "Fact: Making Your Own Glasses at Home to Save Money Just Makes You Look Stupid." Another ad featured two ducks and a goose, and was captioned "Duck Duck Different." Still another compared an apple to an orange, each wearing glasses. All in all, the first InSpecs ad campaign was a great example of the famous business-school equation: great idea divided by (poor strategy poor execution x media salespeople who don't think) = weak results.

Despite the advertising, InSpecs had a great product and a wonderful staff, and soon word began to get around. Everyone knew they could do better. Suzuki's business rep, who felt the store could be selling two to three times as much, asked The Brand Strategy Group to work with him to improve the situation.